Capturing the Moment
Acceptance of a constant state of mediocrity was finally rejected by the higher powers of the University of California, Berkeley, when Chancellor Rich Lyons and GM Ron Rivera successfully landed a crashing plane with the hiring of Tosh Lupoi from Oregon after finally cutting Wilcox loose post-Big Game 10-31 humiliation.
Lupoi has gone on record and will continue to go on record to tell his story. He’s good at that. He’s a Bay Area guy out of Walnut Creek, a De La Salle Spartan, a proud California Golden Bear, and a man who is relentless in his craft. If there is one narrative that Cal’s PR department has pushed harder than any other, it’s that Tosh is a fierce recruiter and determined coordinator. Now, the 35th head coach for the California Golden Bears, must sell this story and this program to an alumni base that sees much more of the days in which Tosh first stepped foot in Berkeley as a player in 2000 under Tom Holmoe, than the glory days when coach Lupoi finished his playing career, leading the Bears defensive line in tackles in 2003, and playing for a nationally ranked program under Jeff Tedford.
Creating a successful career as a recruiter, defensive assistant coach in the NFL and defensive coordinator at two of the top programs in the nation (Alabama 2017-2018 & Oregon 2022-2025), Tosh arrives in Berkeley in the most Berkeley way – he was still helping lead a CFP team when the hire was announced creating a far-too-busy schedule with recruiting, fundraising, and the CFP all coinciding with each other, he had to put in the extra flight and effort to retain star QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, and he had to navigate the transfer portal with an inactive NIL-donor base.
Hitting these nails right on the head on day 1 was something I half-jokingly told my partner that “[Justin] Wilcox would’ve hated doing all of this.” Then, I immediately took it back (somewhat). The restrictions and limitations placed on Wilcox may have expired a long time ago, but the natural aura and energy brought in by a coach who understands how to win, how to recruit, how to fundraise, and specifically, how to embrace Berkeley and the Bay Area – is the breath of fresh air that only a walk through Strawberry Creek in October can match.
In the most Berkeley term, it feels like we have a guy who understands the assignment. This is a momentous occasion in Cal football, Cal Athletics, and Bay Area sports to capture the moment with nothing but a full-steam-ahead attitude. UC Berkeley was narrowly brought into the ACC via lifeline from their rivals across the Bay during conference realignment, and the main reason for that is because they have become forgettable. When the next realignment nuke hits – Tosh, Ron, Chancellor Lyons, and California want to be noticed. The media team pumping out content, the Dialpad sponsorship patches on the jersey, and a big splash in the transfer portal are indicators that all directions can point to prominence when the moment is understood by the one capturing it.
Can’t Just Be a Nostalgia Bomb
The tarps are off, the Joe Roths are in, and the man leading the program was on the field recording tackles against the No. 3 USC Trojans in a triple-overtime victory at California Memorial Stadium in 2003 against Pete Carroll. It feels like something is going on in Berkeley.
When news of the hire broke, I knew I would not understand the cultural significance of bringing back the “bronze era” of Cal football, as I was a toddler and did not know the difference between Cal and the 49ers. For those who got to witness the early-modern finishes of Cal football in the Jeff Tedford era, seeing Cal ranked at No. 2 and constantly appearing in bowl games above a 6-6 record was an expectation. As a recent Cal grad, I can’t imagine that feeling. The nostalgia I have for Cal football is more about the people and less about the game, which sucks as a college football fan.
I do believe this has given me a more critical lens/perspective in the grand scheme of things. I think of it like the X-Men movies. I did not grow up on those films, and when I finally felt I had watched enough of them to see a recent installment of the Marvel franchise, the “nostalgia bomb” moments did not hit the same for me as they did for others in the theater.
Does this mean I have been looking at this Tosh hire and thinking – “this is all just a nostalgia smokescreen for a bad team”? Absolutely not. I think the person who understands this can’t just be about nostalgia and “remember when we used to be good” moments is Tosh Lupoi himself.
The current state of Cal football is win now, showcase who and what we have, and use that to raise more capital to keep up. Tosh is steering a ship that is not allowed to get lost again, and somehow it feels like he has been waiting for this job the entire time. A full-circle moment of learning under Tedford, Nick Saban, and Dan Lanning on how to be successful at successful programs has led a UC Berkeley alumnus who played in the heyday back to Berkeley when the school needs a captain to steer the ship the most.
I believe that Tosh offers an exciting intertwinement (albeit, somewhat controversial depending on how bitter of the person) of that Cal nostalgia he brings with experience and expertise, as you have someone who has invested their own time, blood, sweat, and body to this program helping develop the program, all while seeing firsthand how a power conference team needs to fundraise and navigate the current era of college football.
Am I just singing his praises? Not quite. I am a cruel couch coach come week one, but there are small details in the larger story that Tosh is selling to a national audience about UC Berkeley that I can’t help but pick up on and feel genuinely excited for. The coach wants to host concerts at California Memorial Stadium, a huge middle finger to the NIMBYs in the Panoramic Hill Association. A concert at CMS… I have been told by family and family friends about how they were there at the last Memorial Stadium concert, when Paul McCartney rocked the East Bay, and how special of a night that was for them. Or another example: the SB-111 California Budget includes a killer line on section 46, where $5.26M is being allocated to UC Berkeley for Cal Stadium Lighting – which came after Lupoi met with Governor Newsom and his office during the LA Alumni Meeting.
To me, this puts pressure on Cal. You have one hell of a job to do when the concert announcement comes, and that’s to nail it for the booked talent and stadium hosting, considering the last CMS concert was performed by a living Beatle.
That added pressure in a time when national recognition is the only path forward; that’s the pressure that it feels like Tosh Lupoi is eager to take on and make it something new, and not a relic of the past.
Rivalry Renewed
Bears versus Bruins. NorCal versus SoCal. Bay Area versus Los Angeles. Big Bro versus Little Bro. Having these two schools in separate conferences feels so out of the ordinary; I would impose a $10M penalty on UCLA just for creating this inconvenience to my yearly rivalry entertainment.
The rivalry is back; the 2026 College Football season is here. Week 0 was… a Saturday full of college football which means I can’t complain, but the story we’ve been waiting to see unfold happens in Berkeley on September 5th, 2026, as UCLA’s Bob Chesney and Cal’s Tosh Lupoi are new head coaches leading the two greatest public institutions in the world on what can only be described as the “after dark” matchup of the season. It’s finally close enough to game day that my UCLA neighbors have begun their trash talk in our passing conversations.
The natural rivals of this great state will square off at 7:30 PM next Saturday on ESPN, with the ACC Huddle Show coming to the Memorial Glade at 7 AM – creating another chance for Berkeley students, alumni, staff, and fans to congregate and go crazy for more Cal football.
The Cal cognoscenti have talked about the two-year window of this season and next before the next big wave of conference realignment. Cal is putting its chips on the table. It's all-in time. Cal either succeeds in a major way and becomes relevant to big-time college football or Cal will find itself on the outside looking in, which would essentially be the end.
With the Lyons, Ron, Tosh alignment and the positive changes, Cal is mounting its best efforts to succeed. Failure is not an option.
One of the things that caught my attention in a recent interview with Coach Lupoi was him saying that he hired coordinators that were smarter than himself. He is focused on building a winning program, not his own ego. Pumped for Saturday, and then Cal has another Golden After Dark opportunity against Clemson a few weeks later. Get out to Memorial and get crazy with me and your fellow Bear fans!!!